The Aftermath
by The King of Cheese
Summary: The world of Spira, destroyed by a huge war. Shinra, as one of few survivors, needs a way to help the people. On the vast plains he meets Midgar...An FFVIIXX-2 fic, and my first. Chapter 1 now up, please read and review.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: FFX/X-2/VII aren't mine. They're Squaresoft's. Bah. But the story's mine........

Note - I haven't read 400 FFX-2 fanfics, so I think the originality of this is.....original, but I can't be sure. So don't moan if you think I've stolen characters or storylines! And it features Shinra and other FFX-2 things, mainly locations so I put it here instead of anywhere else (just read on to see).

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**Prologue**

Shinra looked around at the devastated land. The war had taken a great toll on Spira. But his home, the beloved Bikanel Island, was no more than a home to Cactuars now. And it didn't seem like the happy cactuars either. He looked at a lone one in the distance of the vast, empty desert. It looked back and ran at him, but a cactuar was no problem to Shinra. He pulled a dagger out of his sleeve and threw it clean into the small fiends' head. And then silence.

Shinra took one last look at his childhood, remembering the Guado destroy it, how he first met Yuna here, when Lord Nibel launched his attack on the island, and indeed the world, then walked slowly back to the airship.

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Was anyone left? Shinra flew an airship, the remains of the once proud Celsius, alone. He would land it if he saw people, but he never did. Never any that didn't get attacked by fiends. He knew someone needed to restore order to the small population of Spira. Build a town, a city. He knew there was a way, the Farplane energy. But of course, the Farplane erupted during the Great War, running like water through a small island. If he could...It was impossible, though. He didn't have the right apparatus to take the power, and even if he did, it'd take years. But...

They needed a place to live. He'd only found a few, but there were people hiding among the ruins of towns. Luca was home to a few, he'd met. But they would prefer death to what they had. A prospect of a new Zanarkand, not one like the City of the Dead they lived in, but the real Zanarkand. Shinra had to help. Somehow.

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A man walked through the plains of what was once probably the Mi'hen Highroad on the back of a chocobo. He was lucky, he'd found a nest of them hiding near a cave, too scared of the giant snake living in the marshland. He'd been able to train them, and he rode them over the marsh, past the menacing fiend, and to safety. After surveying the land, the man supposed the chocobos were too quick for most fiends, as there had been so many of the unsent that the world crawled with them, and he rode to the distant mountains.

But as he rode, he saw someone. There was a survivor here, and only a child, alone and away from his family, or hers', as their face was hidden by a mask.

"A survivor? What's your name?"

"Shinra." the survivor replied, muffled by the mask.

"Were your parents killed in the war?" the man asked.

"No, they died when the world was at peace." the boy, as he could tell it was a boy, said solemnly.

"Peace? That was over 300 years ago? An unsent?"

"No," he said, "I could die if I wanted, but this world needs order. And you'll help me to build my city, because I'm just a kid. Tell me your name and I'll take you aboard my airship."

"Midgar." the man said.

"Very well Midgar. You will help me, and once the world has been fixed you will receive the rewards you deserve. Tell me, have you ever heard of Zanarkand?"

"Of course I have," Midgar replied, "But why?"

"The power I'm harnessing will create a city much like the Zanarkand of Old. It will be safety for all the citizens of Spira. I shall name it after you."

"Okay then, Shinra." said Midgar, a quiver in his voice. Why was this child so well spoken? "Shall we leave?"

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The airship had been destroyed in Shinra's travels. Shortly after the eighth Power Harnesser was built, resources needed to be found to build housing. Midgar died aboard it, as well as some valuable assets to Shinra's team. But true to his word, the City of Midgar was now the centre of the Planet. Shinra walked down these streets. He was smiling behind his mask at the city, grimier than he'd hoped, but Zanarkand nonetheless. How Yuna and _her lover_ would have felt if they were still in this world. But no, they were gone, as were Rikku, and Brother, and Buddy, and Paine, the few real friends he'd had in his life. And his mother, whatever happened to her, and his father. And the Crimson Squad. Reduced to nothingness. Shinra knew he had the choice though. His suit could allow him the eternal life he'd loved, the one that gave him friends. His thousands of years of life had given him the intelligence greater than Maechen, the maesters, Trema himself. But he'd have to join his friends in the stream of the Farplane one day. One day, some day.

Shinra picked up a sphere, so commonly found nowadays, and looked. No movie to it. An ability, perhaps? It didn't matter though; everyone had magic nowadays.

A car drove by. The sound of a train pulled in. It was time. He removed his helmet, overgrown blonde hair flowing. The smell of air, how lovely it was. How long it had been. It was over now. President Shinra's life, his death, began here. His true voice pierced the world now, a voice to be feared throughout the world, a voice to be destroyed by Sephiroth, and Shinra looked upon the world with is own eyes for the first time in 1000 years.

"No longer am I just a kid."


	2. PostApocalyptic Entertainment

Disclaimer: FFX/X-2/VII aren't mine. They're Squaresoft's. Bah. But the story's mine........

Note - I haven't read 400 FFX-2 fanfics, so I think the originality of this is.....original, but I can't be sure. So don't moan if you think I've stolen characters or storylines! And it features Shinra and other FFX-2 things, mainly locations so I put it here instead of anywhere else (just read on to see).

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Chapter 1: Post-Apocalyptic Entertainment

"...And I want you two to kill the man." Shinra concluded. He ran a hand through his long hair. He appeared to be shaking at his own commands. "No evidence of it either, or I'm gonna be in deep trouble. Be back here by tomorrow or I'll...send a finisher squad out after you. Got it?"

The 2 twins Lheng and Rheng nodded. They walked through the giant mechanical doors in unison, their sharp black suits catching the eye of some of Shinra's employees.

It had been 15 years since Shinra took Midgar as a place of safety. He refused to call himself 'president of the city' and decided better that Shinra Power Company would do better.

But he'd never been happy. Shinra wasn't evil; he considered himself far from it. But here he was, sending out Lheng and Rheng Turk to kill Lord Nibel. Not _the_ Lord Nibel either. A grandson of a grandson. But Nibel had started the war and Shinra was determined to have anyone with relation to him dead.

It came about around 15 years after Yuna, Rikku and Paine had stopped Vegnagun. A man named Nibel unexpectedly turned up from the City of the Dead. He seemed insane in himself, building a Mansion in a mountain-range and locking himself in it for 5 years.

Then one day, he started a war. Before Shinra knew it, the Celsius was out in the sky, fending Luca from Nibel's troops. And Buddy died. Brother was lost forever, though nobody knew where. Others died too. Nooj got what was once all he ever wanted, and Gippal fell with him. It was too much for Rikku, who loved him dearly. She'd changed after she'd married him, no longer the happy-go-lucky she once was. And it drove her to suicide.

Baralai was subject to a disease that crippled him and eventually destroyed him. Wakka and Lulu were probably killed by their own age though, which Shinra felt happy hearing. Their son, Vidina, was a general in the army. The Youth League and New Yevon were crushed. The Ronso joined with Lord Nibel after they threw out their elder, who was said to have travelled to the 'sunlit stars'.

But what was worst? For Shinra it was seeing Shuyin's tragedy. Yuna was too good a warrior. She marched, destroying troops of soldiers and machina. And she met her end to the hands of Lord Nibel, in front of her lover's eyes. And Shinra swore revenge.

Lord Nibel the First was eventually slain by the greatest of Spira's warriors, leader of the rebellion against him, Paine. And the war lasted another 300 years, all the time leaving Shinra and his mask in a cave, broadening his knowledge even further. Until one day, it was over. And Shinra saw the devastated land. He found the Celsius after a while of wandering. And then he met Midgar.

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Lheng and Rheng were renowned across the planet. The two were deadly assassins, and not to be messed with. Shinra had employed them because he hated Nibel and needed him killed, but the young president was shaky, always running a sweaty hand through his hair, glancing around.

The Turks weren't bothered much by this, though. As long as they got pay for it nothing was a problem. And this man didn't have the courage to kill them afterwards.

The two men were passing through the small, run-down town of Brother. The huge reactor 4 was overlooking the area, taking the energy needed to power Midgar by the second. A beggar was on the corner, with a couple of Gil and some Sphere Material in his cupped hands. A gang seemed to be passing down an alleyway behind the theatre. And a train was heard rattling above them.

They passed through Angra's alley, renowned for having a huge death toll in the short passage alone. But the Turks feared nothing.

Oddly enough, trouble met their way.

"Got some Gil to spare old Jarka?" a man in his early twenties said, waving a knife around madly.

"No." Rheng said. He'd found it easier to steer clear of snappy comebacks and get to the point.

"Eh?" the man said, confused.

"Nothing." Rheng said and proceeded towards the exit. The man caught on.

"Wise guy, eh?" he said, running in front of Rheng.

"Nah, nah." Lheng said, causing both men to turn around, "Steer clear of my brother, pal. You want Gil, I got Gil."

The man thought this was odd. He'd kill them anyway, why were they giving it to him? _Oh dear._ he thought. He ran as quickly as he could.

"Wise guy, eh?" Lheng shouted. He picked out his money pouch casually and threw his Spare Change at the mugger. It dug right into his back. Rheng picked the coins out of the man's stunned body.

"Dead." Rheng called over, "Pretty weak, I'd say."

"Got a point, friend. I only used 1000 Gil on him." They both laughed, and proceeded on towards the coast.

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Dead, dead, dead. Justice couldn't fully be served until the man in the mountains was dead. The twins were taking care of that now, and at the top of the tower Shinra looked out onto the city.

Something was needed. Something to make the world more interesting. Shinra loved a game, he always had since he'd joined the Gull Wings Blitzball team. A president could take his job only too seriously.

"Eliza," he called. No reply. Shinra shook his head and sat down at his desk, probably twelve times the size of the average one found in the lower rooms of the tower. He picked up his great invention, enlarged slightly, and spoke.

"Brother to Yuna. Do you read?"

"What the hell?" a young woman's voice replied, "Shinra?"

"I mean...Eliza, can I...see you please?"

"Of course, Mr President."

Shinra sat and waited.

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A man lay dead on the floor in the Shinra laboratories. One of those people that hopped on the bandwagon. He'd seen Shinra's success so he thought he could steal the experiments and technology of the young billionaire and sell them for his own. Following the kid's footsteps. But at least once a year someone tried this. And every time it was Lheng that stopped him.

Lheng was different to his brother and Eliza knew this. For one was his looks. Fair enough, they were twins. But Rheng had been in less fights than his brother. That said, he'd still been in fights. But he was weak, oh he was weak, always coming off worst. A mangled nose was the highly unattractive result of this. Lheng was strong, he always won. Always.

The hair as well. Rheng favoured his short spiky hair, ginger tips and general attempts at being a pretty boy. Lheng had that long stuff, dark as the plate above the slums. Gorgeous.

And the personality traits. No, this was too much effort for Eliza to describe. But simply said, Rheng was a bit of an inconsiderate moron.

And here she was in the Shinra laboratories, clearing up a thief's mess. Typical. It was always, _always_, her that had this job. She wasn't the president's personal assistant or anything, even though he'd taken a liking to her, and because of being the second one on the list she would always get stuck with clean-up jobs, too much evidence for an average person to touch.

It would have also helped if the rest of the removal squad had turned up. But it didn't really matter because Lheng was good enough to thank her, and that was a definite plus point.

"Brother to Yuna. Do you read?" the codec buzzed to life.

"What the hell?" Eliza said, "Shinra?"

"I mean...Eliza, can I...see you please?"

"Of course, Mr President."

He was away from friends far too long. Poor little guy.

Eliza looked down at what could have been carnage. She supposed Lheng had a job for Shinra because of this mess; he was usually organised enough to tell her about any problems, just like everyone else. But he treat her differently from all those other heartless employees. She was more than the clean-up lady of Shinra Inc.

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It was starting. She knew it. The mines were emitting an eerie glow. This only came around once every thousand years. The mythril season, as miners would call it, but to her it was the era of the glorious mages, the Spellspinners. The sacred caverns had told her about this. The caverns would tell all, how the age of old was almost dawning once again. The machinery of Shinra would have to go, beneficial as it was to society, and the Black and White Wizards, the Callers, the Warriors, they would all return. More than the faint memories of them kept in the Material Spheres that the High Summoner was said to have used so long ago, this would be the age. The mages would be accepted into the world again.

They would, soon enough.

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"Eliza, are you bored?" this was quite sudden.

"What, sir?"

"I said, are you bored? As in, bored in general."

"Well..." she thought about her answer. Ah hell, just be honest. "Yes. very. Nothing to do."

"Ah, good."

This was odd. "Good?"

"Yes." Shinra said casually, "Eliza, I request a favour. I need you to help me. The world is in chaos, and salvation is sought in Shinra, Inc. I need you to help me build a place of happiness. Fun. Joy. Where people forget misery. Much like the old Blitzball stadiums."

"Blitzball?"

"Erm, an amusement park, then. I ask you to help, because I need a place to build it."

"Have you thought about Desert? They say the underneath has a very strong base. You've mentioned your old home many a few times; have you thought about that, sir?"

_It's like turning the ruins of Home into a theme park!_

Shinra shuddered.

"No, no I don't think that'll do. But...but an old desert is in the centre of...somewhere...maybe..."

"Sir, did I offend you?"

"No!" Shinra shouted sharply, "No, not at all!" Be strong, Shinra.

"Well, okay. If you say." Shinra got stranger and stranger all the time. But this wasn't much surprise, seeing him like this. He talked about his past so much, but the slight hint that you were actually curious made him act strange. Very.

But that was Shinra. People said he was over 1000 years old. Others say he just survived the war through luck.

"No, Home wouldn't be suitable. Since the war the world's landscape changed. Bikanel is only a small island in the corner of the globe now, home to a few rogue Cactuars. Sad, really.

"But now, Eliza, I need you to contact my friend, a very rich man named Dio. I'm sure his funds wouldn't be hurt to do this, but my company needs all the money it can get. Arrangements could be made, if you use your charm."

"Charm. Got it, sir."

Eliza left the room. And at the same moment, a cry was heard from the West. The Planet was in danger. Trema's beasts were the answer.


End file.
